Praise Be To Apple
by crbmyenthusiasm
Summary: Another shuffle fic.


A/N: I got tagged again, so here I am. Again. Like the last time, if the song ended and I was in the middle of a thought I finished that thought.

I tag phoebe p. and kinvalar.

I Disclaim.

OOOOOOOO

**(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley**

"Okay, what was so urgent that I had to rush over here?" Derek asked his friend, before plopping down on the couch.

There was a pause, then Sam blushed and said, "I met a girl."

Derek blinked. This was… odd. Best friends though they may have been, they weren't in the habit of sitting around and talking about their relationships like a couple of chicks.

But Sam seemed about to burst, and Derek figured, _what the hell?_ "Tell me about her."

Sam talked, and talked, and talked some more. And the more he described the girl, the more uneasy Derek began to feel. He tried to comfort himself—tell himself that it was all just one big coincidence. And he'd almost convinced himself of that, until…

"I can't wait for you to meet her tomorrow," Sam said with a smile. "Casey's gonna hang out with us at the rink."

Derek tried to smile at Sam, but it came out more like a grimace. He'd never figured that God had such a sense of humor, but He must. Either that or Derek had pissed Him off. 'Cause just yesterday a Casey that sounded painfully like Sam's Casey had been in his arms.

But looking at Sam's smiling face, he knew there was nothing he could say except, "Whatever; sounds cool to me."

OOO

**Make It Easy On Yourself - Jerry Butler**

"Max, I—"

He held up a hand to cut her off. And for once, Max wished that he was just as stupid as everyone thought he was; he didn't want to know what was coming. But he did. And he didn't want to hear it; in fact, he refused to. Why prolong the inevitable? It didn't have to be as hard as she was going to try to make it.

"Don't Casey, just don't." He exhaled loudly, before shaking his head and giving a soft laugh. "You really love him, huh?"

Mutely, she nodded her head.

"Then just leave," he told her.

"But—" She tried again, and, again, she was denied.

"It's not like there's anything you can tell me that's going to make this hurt any less."

She saw the truth in his words, but she tried anyway. "I want you to know something though. I'll always love you, always have a special place in my heart for you."

His laugh was bitter this time. "Please, Casey," he murmured. "Just go." _Why should we both have to suffer?_ "I don't want or need to hear this, and you shouldn't say it."

"Max—"

"Go," he repeated. "Make it easy on yourself." '_It'll be hard enough on me for the both of us,'_ he added silently.

OOO

**Not Gonna Cry - Mary J. Blige**

"Eleven years, Derek," Emily yelled, incredulous at what she'd just heard. "Eleven years and you're leaving me for her." Besides grief, there was a fair amount of shock in her voice.

He stayed silent, choosing to take his bitching out like a man.

"Cleaning the house, raising our kids, helping you get your business off the ground," she listed. "I did all that; _not that_ _bitch_."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, and it sounded lame even to his own ears.

"Sorry," she sputtered. "Sorry? You stood up in front of God and our families and promised to love and honor me, and now that you've so thoroughly broken that promise all you have to say is sorry."

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, gesturing helplessly.

The blood was rushing to her face, and if it were even possible she looked madder than she had a moment ago. "Tell me how this happened? How it came to be that you were leaving me?" Turning away from him so he wouldn't see her cry, she added, "'Cause I sure as hell don't get it."

OOO

**Creature of the Night - Susan Sarandon in the Rocky Horror Picture Show**

She used to be the type of girl who stopped after a few kisses. Second base was only reserved for boyfriends, and if by some miracle the guy actually made it to third base, then, well, it must've been love.

But that was all before. Before Casey had been enlightened. Before Derek had kissed her.

She hadn't been right since.

All day long—through class, at work, at home, all she could do was think about that kiss and how she wanted more. More kissing, more touching, just more.

And, as the days went on, she was grew tired of keeping those thoughts to herself.

"Derek," she said as she marched into his room without warning.

"So, you're talking to me now?" he commented, sounding bored.

"No." She shook her head, and then pursed her lips. "Well, I guess I am. But only to tell you this: touch me."

"Huh?" he asked, eyes wide. He didn't look bored anymore.

"Touch me. Kiss me. Do something," she ordered snappily, "just be quiet about it."

OOO

**Leavin' - Jesse McCartney**

"Going somewhere?" Max asked, after having walked into his house to find his fiance pacing the length of the foyer, a small piece of luggage in each hand.

"Oh." Casey jumped as if he'd startled her. "Yeah, actually I am."

He stared at her a minute, then, "Well, are you going to tell me where? Or do I have to guess?"

She took a deep breath. "Maybe we should sit down first."

"No," he folded his arms across his chest, "I think I'll stand."

His glare and intimidating posture only strengthened her resolve. "Fine," she snapped. It was hard to feel guilty when he was reminding her why she was leaving in the first place—he was a bully and an ass. Hardly a winning combination.

"Dinner for the next two weeks is in the refrigerator. It's all clearly labeled and there are instructions, so you shouldn't have any trouble with it. I ironed enough clothes for you for the next couple of weeks too," she told him, keeping her tone strictly business. "I'll call before I come back for the rest of my stuff," she finished, before heading towards the door.

"Wait," Max said, reeling from what he'd just heard. "You're leaving me?" he asked. "Like, for good?"

"Yup."

His gaze narrowed even more at her answer. "You're leaving me, but you're not going to tell me where you're going, or even why you're leaving?"

She patted him on the cheek, which was a favorite little patronizing gesture of his, and told him, "No, I don't think I will."

OOO

**Wedding Bell Blues - The Fifth Dimension**

"Derek," Emily said, sounding very surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Derek could understand her surprise; it wasn't everyday that he popped up in womens' clothing stores.

"Better question," she said, after a moment. "How did you even know I'd be here."

He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Not important."

"Okay," she said slowly. "Well, what can I do for you?"

"You can tell me why Casey's acting crazy," he told her bluntly. "She keeps staring at me like she's waiting on me to do or say something and I have no idea what it is I'm supposed to be saying or doing. Did I forget some love holiday or something?"

"Something like that," Emily said, trying not to laugh.

"Well, what is it? What was I supposed to do?"

"Propose."

"What?" he stammered.

Emily did laugh then—he looked like the wind had been knocked out of him.

"We're thirty, Derek. And all her girlfriends' are married," she told him, glancing pointedly at her own wedding ring. "Casey's probably going to look at you like that until she gets a ring. So either learn to live with it, or go shopping."

OOO

**Maybe I Know - Leslie Gore**

"How can she not know?"

"You know what they say: love is blind."

"Yeah, well, I hope I'm never _that_ in love."

It had been hard at first—damn near impossible—to ignore the whispers. But Emily was getting better at it. It was much easier now to pretend that she didn't know, to pretend that the whole school didn't know.

Yeah, sometimes she wanted to snap at the gossips. Sometimes she wanted to just stand up and announce to all the people who thought she was an idiot - "Maybe I know that he's cheating on me."

But she knew she never actually would.

If people knew she knew about his other girl they'd expect her to break up with him, and there was no way that was going to happen.

Sure it was annoying, but as far as she was concerned people could say what they wanted. Maybe she was young and silly, but at that moment in her life she figured that her dignity was a small price to pay for his leather jacket.

OOO

**A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash**

"Leslie," Derek repeated incredulously. "You want to name our son Leslie."

Casey rolled her eyes. "It's a boy's name, Derek. Besides, I like it; it sounds distinguished."

"It _sounds_ like a girl's name," he mumbled.

"Well, its not."

"Really? How many guys named Leslie have you met?"

She thought a moment, then waved her hand. "That's not important."

"Yeah," he nodded, "you're right. What's important is that you want our kid to be the Boy Named Sue."

"Derek," she said warningly.

"Okay; okay." He held up both his hands in surrender, not really in the mood to fight with his wife in front of a waiting room full of people. "But when he grows up and tries to kick my ass, I'm gonna tell him that it was your idea."

OOO

**Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood**

"How much time do we have?" Emily asked.

Casey took another furtive glance around the parking lot before answering. "Probably a couple of hours, that's about how long he usually spends here with her."

Emily looked up from the duffle bag she was digging in. "And you know that how?"

Casey shrugged. "I may have done a couple of stakeout missions."

Emily gave her a long look, before shrugging herself. "I guess that's not any crazier than what we're doing now."

"Hey," she said softly. "You really don't have to do this with me. I mean, I'll totally understand if you want to go home."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Like I'd make you do this by yourself. If you can't be crazy with your best friend, who can you be crazy with?"

"Great," she said, clapping her hands together. She really hadn't wanted to this by herself. "What do you think we should do first?"

"How about the headlights," Emily suggested.

Casey didn't need to be told twice. Raising the baseball bat she'd liberated from the garage over her head, she said, "I bet he thinks twice before he cheats again."

After watching her friend smash the headlights on Max's Jetta, Emily couldn't help but agree. "I bet you're right."

OOO

**50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon**

"If you want to leave," Emily told her friend, "just leave. It'll be worse if you drag it out."

"I know," Casey whined. "But it's Sam. How can I hurt a guy like that? He's just so nice, and sweet, and… Sam-like. He'd never hurt me; he'd never hurt a fly. And I'm about to break his heart."

"You fell out of love," Emily reached over and patted her hand. "And that's okay. But what's not okay is staying with somebody when you have no romantic feelings for them whatsoever."

"I know; I know," she repeated. "I just don't know how to end it."

"Well," Emily began, "I hate to offer unsolicited advice…"

_Since when?_

"But, there are plenty of ways you can do this."

"Really?" Casey sounded eager. "Like what?"

"Just slip out the house and never go back. Or hop on a bus and go visit some relatives for a while; I'm sure he'll get the message when you never come back."

Huffing, Casey rolled her eyes. "Could you please be serious?"

"I could, but where's the fun in that."

THE END.

A/N: Shuffle kind of kicked my ass this time. I found this a lot harder to write than my last one, and the last one wasn't exactly a walk in the park.

Anyway, drop me a line and let me know what you thought.


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